Fluid pump having at least one impeller blade and a support device

ABSTRACT

The invention relates to a fluid pump comprising at least one impeller blade (1, 1′, 1″) which is rotatable about an axis of rotation (3) and conveys a fluid in operation and comprising a support device (4, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 12, 12′, 13, 13′, 14, 14′, 15, 17) which supports the at least one impeller blade (1, 1′, 1″) in at least one support region, wherein the support device is changeable between a first state in which the rotor is radially compressed and a second state in which the rotor is radially expanded; and wherein at least one impeller blade extends at least partly radially inwardly with respect to the axis of rotation (3) from the support region/support regions in the radially expanded state of the rotor.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No.16/243,855, filed Jan. 9, 2019, now allowed, which is a continuation ofU.S. patent application Ser. No. 14/807,615, filed Jul. 23, 2015, nowU.S. Pat. No. 10,208,763, which is a continuation of U.S. applicationSer. No. 13/261,205, filed May 16, 2012, now U.S. Pat. No. 9,089,634,which is a national stage filing under 35 U.S.C. § 371 of InternationalApplication No. PCT/EP2010/005867, filed Sep. 22, 2010, which claims thebenefit of U.S. Provisional Application No. 61/244,592, filed Sep. 22,2009, and European Application No. 09075441.7, filed Sep. 22, 2009. Thedisclosures of each of the foregoing applications are herebyincorporated by reference in their entirety. International ApplicationNo. PCT/EP2010/005867 was published under PCT Article 21(2) in English.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

The invention is in the field of mechanical engineering, in particularmicromechanics, and addresses fluid pumps which work with rotatingimpeller blades and are particularly configured for use in areas whichare difficult to access.

Pumps of this type can be used, for example, in the medical field andcan also have particularly small construction shapes for this purpose.

A special application of micropumps is, for example, the assistance forthe pump force of the human heart. Pumps used in this area are usuallyintroduced into the body through blood vessels and are optionallyoperated in a chamber of the heart.

BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

A plurality of such pumps have already become known which have differentconstructional shapes. An axial flow pump has become known, from WO98/53864, and equally from EP 1 738 783 A1, which in each case has arotor in the form of a rigid shaft, said rotor being provided withimpeller blades and said shaft being outwardly journalled in a stator.The drive can be directly integrated into the stator and the rotor as anelectromagnetic drive.

Pumps of this type have the disadvantage that they have a large diameterin relation to the pumping capacity and can hardly be introduced througha blood vessel.

In contrast to this, a rotor is known from WO 03/013745 A2 which has asmaller diameter in a compressed state than in an expanded state andwhich has an expandable rotor blade which expands in operation by thefluid counterpressure of the blood.

Other rotors which have become known likewise have impeller blades whichare expandable for operation, for example by joints or by elasticdeformability of the impeller blades.

A particular problem in this respect is that the impeller blades areusually fastened to a central neck and are rotationally drivable andalso movably pivotable from this; that the impeller blades thus have tobe flexible, but have a certain stiffness or a restriction in itsmovability, on the other hand, to exert the required pressure onto thefluid for conveying.

This object has previously not been ideally achieved in the prior art.It is therefore the underlying object of the present invention tofurther develop a pump of the described type to achieve a good pumpingcapacity in operation despite a small pump diameter in the compressedstate. The design should in this respect be as uncomplicated and asinexpensive as possible.

In this respect, at least one impeller blade is provided which isrotatable about an axis of rotation to convey the fluid as well assupport device which supports the at least one impeller blade in asupport region. The support device is moreover changeable between acompressed rotor state and an expanded rotor state and at least one partof at least one impeller blade extends at least partly, viewed from thesupport region, radially inwardly toward the rotor axis in the expandedrotor state. Since the support region is not disposed at the radiallyinner end of the impeller blade, but is rather offset to the impellerblade exterior, viewed radially, the impeller blade/impeller bladesis/are supported in a region in which the relative speed to the fluid isgreater than in the region of the axis of rotation and, whereapplicable, the mechanical load of the impeller blade is correspondinglyhigher. The support region and the support device can be the only regionin which the impeller blade/impeller blades is/are journalled or is/areconnected to another component. The impeller blade/impeller blades can,for example, be connected to other components in a force-transmittingmanner only by means of the support device. In this respect, the regionof the impeller blade/impeller blades conveying the fluid can lie whollyor only partly radially within the support region. A lower mechanicaldemand is in any case made here on the support device and on itsconnection to the respective impeller blade than if the support devicewere to support the impeller blades in the region of the axis ofrotation. The impeller blades can moreover be made weaker since they aresupported in a region of higher load and the mean spacing of the regionsof the impeller blade/impeller blades conveying the fluid, viewed in theradial direction, is smaller than if it/they were supported in theregion of a neck on the axis of rotation.

The support device can have a strand-like body which extendstransversely to the impeller blade surface with respect to itslongitudinal direction and/or, in the region in which it supports theimpeller blade, passes through said impeller blade or a tangentialsurface of said impeller blade. The angle between the longitudinaldirection of the strand-like body and of the surface normal of theimpeller blade surface/of the tangential surface at the impeller bladesurface should be less than 89°, preferably less than 85°.

Provision can also be made that the predominant part of the region ofthe impeller blade/impeller blades conveying the fluid extends radiallywithin the support region/support regions. The support region is thuscloser to the parts of the impeller blade/impeller blades which move thefastest and can support them efficiently, for example transmit a torqueto them.

Provision can advantageously also be made that the support region isarranged radially outwardly at the periphery of the fluid-conductingregion of the impeller blade/impeller blades. In this respect, thesupport region can completely radially outwardly surround the impellerblades.

The impeller blade can generally be fixedly connected to the supportdevice so that it rotates with the impeller blade.

This is a construction shape which can be manufactured particularlysimply and which is mechanically stable. The support device can, forexample, comprise the same material as the impeller blade and can bemanufactured in one piece therewith.

Provision can, however, also be made that the support device ismanufactured from a material different from that o:E the impeller blade,for example from a superelastic compound or from a shape memorymaterial, in particular nitinol, so that the support device can activelychange into an operating shape in order thus to erect the rotor with theimpeller blades so that no further demands are made on the impellerblades with respect to an automatic deformation. They can then bemanufactured as thin, pliable films which are not self-supporting.

The at least one impeller blade can, however, also be guided andjournalled movably with respect to the support device. The supportdevice can then be stationary with respect to the impeller blades as astator. A guidance, for example in the form of a mechanical or magneticjournaling of the impeller blades with respect to the support device isthen necessary.

The support device can, for example, be formed by at least one ringpositioned concentrically and optionally journaled with respect to theaxis of rotation. This ring can have an axial length which is smallerthan the axial length of the impeller blades.

Two or more such rings can also respectively be connected, axiallyspaced apart, to the impeller blade/impeller blades. The rings can bedesigned in meandering form in the peripheral direction, for example, tobe able to implement a corresponding deformability, for example as aconsequence of superelasticity or shape memory properties in aparticularly simple manner. A plurality of rings are preferably arrangedcoaxially to one another.

As shown in FIG. 15 , a helical body 7 a can also be provided coaxial tothe axis of rotation as a support; body instead of one or more rings. Itcan, for example, have a round or flat cross-section. The helix canextend in the same direction ‘C’ or in the opposite direction ‘D’ to ahelical outer margin of an impeller blade 1.

The support device can, however, also be formed by a flexible tubesurrounding the impeller blade/impeller blades. Such a tube can itselfcomprise a shape memory material, for example, also a wire meshwork ofnitinol wire or it can comprise a flexible organic material impermeablefor the fluid and have support elements such as support rings, forexample. The tube can be inflatable in pumping operation by overpressureas a result of the fluid pressure which has built up.

The tube can be connected at points or in parts to the outer ends of theimpeller blade/impeller blades.

In accordance with the present invention, the rotor does not need a neckin the region of the impeller blades so that the impeller blade/impellerblades, with all its/their parts, can be spaced apart from the axis ofrotation. In this case, the cross-section of the rotor, which isotherwise taken up by a neck, is additionally available for conveyingfluid.

When the support device rotates with the impeller blade/impeller blades,it can be journalled in at least one rotary bearing which is axiallyarranged outside the region over which the impeller blade/impellerblades extends/extend.

This design allows a simple journalling in a commercial rotary bearing,for example a roller bearing or a magnetic bearing. Such a journallingis less complicated and lower in friction than a journalling at theperiphery of the support device in the region of the impeller blades.

However, a hydrodynamic journalling can, for example, also be providedat the periphery of the support device when a rotor of the describedkind runs in a housing and when a gap is provided between the housingand the support device in which a fluid is located. In a particularlysimple embodiment, this fluid could be identical with the conveyedfluid.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 a three-dimensional, partly broken away view of a rotor of afluid pump with a support device and an impeller blade;

FIG. 2 an axial plan view of the subject of FIG. 1 ;

FIG. 3 a side view

FIG. 4 a partly broken away side view of the subject of FIG. 1 ;

FIGS. 5 & 6 respective longitudinal sections of the subject of FIG. 1 ;

FIG. 7 a rotor with a support device comprising two rings and animpeller blade in a three-dimensional view;

FIG. 8 the subject of FIG. 7 in a longitudinal. section;

FIG. 9 the subject of FIG. 7 in a first side view;

FIG. 10 the subject of FIG. 7 in a second side view;

FIG. 11 the subject of FIG. 7 in a second side view;

FIG. 12 the subject of FIG. 7 in a longitudinal section offsetangle-wise with respect to the longitudinal section of FIG. 8 ;

FIG. 13 a rotor with a support device comprising three rings;

FIG. 14 a side view of the rotor of FIG. 13 ;

FIG. 15 a rotor with a support device having four rings in athree-dimensional view;

FIG. 16 a rotor in which the support device comprises at least one tubepiece;

FIG. 17 a longitudinal section of the subject matter of FIG. 16 ;

FIG. 18 a rotor in which the impeller blade/impeller blades aresurrounded in full by a tubular support device, with reinforcement ringsreinforcing the tube;

FIG. 19 the rotor of FIG. 18 in a longitudinal section;

FIG. 20 the subject of FIG. 18 in a side view;

FIG. 21 the rotor of FIG. 18 in a three-dimensional view, with thesupport rings being designed in meandering form in the peripheraldirection;

FIG. 22 a rotor with a tubular support device which is reinforced by awire meshwork, in a three-dimensional view;

FIG. 23 a rotor similar to that of FIG. 22 , with two rotor blades beingarranged without a neck such that they do not extend up to the axis ofrotation and can slide past one another on a compression of the rotor;

FIG. 24 the arrangement of FIG. 23 in a longitudinal section;

FIG. 25 a rotor arrangement with an impeller blade which is surroundedby a tubular support device, with the support device being connected atboth sides to a respective shaft journal by means of fork-like braces;

FIG. 26 a side view of the subject of FIG. 25 ;

FIG. 27 a partly broken away view of the subject of FIG. 26 ;

FIG. 28 a three-dimensional outer view of the subject of FIGS. 25-27 ;

FIG. 29 a partly broken away three-dimensional view of the subject ofFIG. 28 .

FIG. 30 a rotor with a tubular support device which is connected via abrace to a shaft journal, with a single impeller blade being provided;

FIG. 31 the arrangement of FIG. 30 in a partly broken away view;

FIG. 32 an embodiment similar to the design of FIG. 30 , with theimpeller blade being coupled directly to the shaft journal and not viathe support device; and

FIG. 33 the design of FIG. 32 in a longitudinal section.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

FIG. 1 shows, in a three-dimensional view, a rotor of a fluid pump, inparticular of a micropump, for the axial conveying of blood, such as istypically used in medicine to assist the human heart. Such a pump is,for example, mounted at the end of a hollow catheter and conducts bloodunder pressure from a chamber of the heart into a blood vessel when itis introduced into a heart ventricle through a blood vessel. For thispurpose, a rotor rotates at some thousand revolutions per minute toachieve the required conveying capacity. The impeller blade 1 is helicalin form, is connected to a neck 2 in the region of the axis of rotation3 and is supported outwardly by a support device 4 in the form of atubular sleeve, to which the impeller blade 1. is connected at its outermargin.

The neck 2 is typically connected to a drivable shaft which extendsthrough the hollow catheter and blood vessel to a motor drive which cantypically be arranged outside the body. A sluice is provided between themotor drive and the hollow catheter.

FIG. 2 shows a plan view in which the upper margin of the impeller blade1 and the tubular sleeve 4 can easily be recognized.

The impeller blade 1 can also be understood as two partial impeller.blades which extend respectively radially from the neck 2 to the tubularsupport device 4 and axially extend helically.

FIG. 3 shows the rotor from FIG. 1 in a side view, with the closedpipe-like or tubular sleeve 4 being easy to recognize and the ends ofthe neck 2 projecting beyond it.

FIG. 4 shows a broken away representation of the rotor of FIG. 3 , withthe marginal regions 5 of the impeller blade 1 being shown in dashedform where it is connected to the sleeve/support device 4.

FIG. 5 shows a longitudinal section through the rotor of FIG. 1 , withthe impeller blade 1 intersecting the plane of the drawing at the upperend of the rotor.

The impeller blade can, as shown in FIG. 5 and also in the followingFIG. 6 , be manufactured in one piece with the support device 4 made asa collapsible tube or as a collapsible pipe. Said support device can,for example, comprise a plastic as a flexible hose and can be held in anexpanded and shape-stable manner by the pump action as a result of theoverpressure built up in its interior. The shape stability can, however,also be established by the elastic restoring forces of the material. Atthe same time, the .impeller blades are expanded and brought into theshape ready for operation by the expansion movement. The impeller blade1, for example, is strained by tension and thus properly stabilizedbetween the support device 4 and the neck 2 in the expanded state.

An embodiment can be seen from FIG. 7 with two rings 6, 7 which togetherform the support device and support the impeller blade 1. The supportregions of the impeller blade 1 in this respect lie radially of itsfurthermost margin.

The rings 6, 7 can comprise a sha.pe memory alloy, nitinol, for example,and can be directly expanded after introduction into a body to adopt theshown circular shape. At the same time, they pull the support regions ofthe impeller blade J. radially outwardly and tension it.

FIG. 8 shows a longitudinal section through the rotor in accordance withFIG. 7 and FIG. 9 shows the extent of the margin of the impeller bladein a side view.

FIG. 10 shows a three-dimensional side view which illustrates thehelical structure of the impeller blade 1.

In addition to the elements shown, spacers can be provided between therings 6, 7 which do not have to be shape-changeable and which canmaintain their form on the transition between the compressed shape andthe expanded shape of the rotor. They can be made as bars or bracesextending parallel to the neck 2.

The rings 6, 7 can generally also comprise an elastic material, forexample rubber-like material, which has small restoring forces on thetransport to the point of use in compressed form and which stabilizesitself after adopting the circular ring shape.

FIG. 11 shows an axial plan view of the rotor in accordance with FIG. 7and FIG. 12 shows a section in which the impeller blade 1 intersects theplane of the drawing at the upper and lower ends of the rotor. Theimpeller blade passes through 180 degrees of a helix between the upperend and the lower end of the rotor.

A rotor of a fluid pump is shown in FIG. 13 which has a support devicewith three rings 6, 7, 8 which are each, viewed radially in the marginalregion of the impeller blade 1, connected to it and can be spaced apartfrom one another by means of braces, not shown.

FIG. 14 shows a side view of the rotor of FIG. 13 .

In FIG. 15 , a rotor having four rings 6, 7, B, 9 is shownperspectively, said rings together forming the major part of a supportdevice. In another respect, what was already said with regard to theembodiments described above applies to the rings 6, 7, 8, 9.

Instead of individual rings, a helical body 7 a can also be providedcircumferentially at the periphery which is shown in dashed form in FIG.15 and which is fastened spot-wise to the periphery of the impellerblade.

The torque can generally be introduced into the rotor via the supportdevice. For this purpose, a part of the support device must, forexample, be connected to a drive device or to a drive shaft via braces.This coupling will be looked at in more detail further below.

Alternatively, the torque can also be introduced via the neck 2 providedsuch a neck is present. In this case, the effect of the support deviceis restricted to the radial support and shape of the impellerblade/impeller blades.

FIG. 16 shows an embodiment in a three-dimensional representation inwhich an impeller blade 1 is stabilized at its periphery by a pipesection 10 or a tubular section. FIG. 17 shows the same arrangement in alongitudinal section.

The pipe section 10 can comprise a plastic, for example, and can be madein one piece with the impeller blade, but can also comprise a materialdifferent from the material of the impeller blade, for example a shapememory alloy. A tubular section or pipe section of this type has thedisadvantage with respect to a ring of possibly being more difficult tocompress, but has the advantage of being easy to stabilize in theexpanded shape.

FIG. 18 shows, in a three-dimension view, a rotor of a fluid pump havinga rotor blade 1 which is supported by a support device 11 in the form ofa throughgoing tube element. The tube element 11 extends across thecomplete axial length of the impeller blade. The tube element can,however, also be axially shorter than the impeller blade 1.

FIG. 19 shows a longitudinal section through the embodiment of FIG. 18 ,with in particular three ring-like reinforcement elements 12, 13, 14being able to be recognized which are fastened radially outwardly to thetube element J.1 or are manufactured in piece therewith in a contiguousmanner.

The reinforcement elements 12, 13, 14 can comprise the same material asthe tube element 11, but can also comprise another material tending tobe stiffer, for example a shape memory alloy of a rubber which may tendto be stiffer than the flexible material which the tube element 11comprises.

In this respect, the tube element 11 can be at least partly co-expandedon the unfolding by expansion of the ring-shaped reinforcement elements12, 13, 14. This expansion movement can moreover be reinforced by anoverpressure built up in the rotor as soon as the rotor is set intorotation.

FIG. 20 shows a side view of the rotor of FIGS. 18, 19 in a closed form.

A variant is shown in FIG. 21 in which the ring-shaped reinforcementelements 12′, 13′, 14′ are made in meandering form in the peripheraldirection. These reinforcement elements can comprise a shape memorymaterial and are particularly easily collapsible by the meander-likedesign. In addition to the rectangular meander-like structure shown,these reinforcement elements can also have a saw-tooth structure or awavy-line structure.

Such reinforcement elements can be adhered to the tube element, forexample.

FIG. 22 shows, in a three-dimensional representation, a tube element 15which forms a support device for the vane wheel 1 and is reinforced bywire meshwork 16 on its outer side. The wire meshwork 16 can be adhered,in particular also only spot-wise, to the tube element 15, for example.The wire meshwork can, as usual with stents, be made so that a radialcompression does not result in a change in the length of the wiremeshwork. The wire meshwork can comprise a shape memory alloy as a metalwire or also as a grid structure, in particular in one piece; however, amanufacture from a plastic is also conceivable.

FIG. 23 shows an embodiment of a rotor having two impeller blades 1′, 1″which are each helically fastened, for example adhesively bonded, attheir outer sides in a tubular element 15, with the two helical shapesbeing matched to one another such that the two impeller blades 1′, 1″being able to slide past one another radially with respect to the axisof rotation on compression of the support device 15 so that an extensivecompression of the rotor is possible overall.

Both impeller blades 1′, 1″ end radially spaced apart from the axis ofrotation, with a neck not being present. Only small forces act on theimpeller blades at the margin of the rotor blades close to the axis ofrotation due by the fluid to be conveyed since the relative movement issmall in this region close to the axis. The space saved by omitting theneck can additionally be utilized for the transport of the fluid and thelack of the neck and the ability to push the impeller blades togethermakes an extensive compression of the rotor possible in the radialdirection.

FIG. 24 shows the arrangement of FIG. 23 in a longitudinal section.

In a similar manner to the design of FIG. 22 , the tubular sleeve whichforms the support device for the impeller blades comprises an innerflexible sleeve and an outer wire meshwork.

FIGS. 25-29 in particular show the coupling of the support device to twoshaft journals which are provided at both sides of the rotor and canserve both as a journalling and for the introduction of a torque.

FIG. 25 shows, in a longitudinal sectional representation, a tubularsupport. device 1 7 which is connected via braces 18, 19, 20, 21 to twoshaft journals 22, 23. Since the impeller blade 1. is supported by thesupport device 17, the t:ota:i. rotor is rotatably journalled and drivenvia the shaft journals 22, 23.

FIG. 26 shows a representation rotated by 90° about the axis of rotation24 in a side view.

FIG. 27 shows a view from the same direction as FIG. 26 in a sectionalrepresentation.

FIGS. 28, 29 show respective three-dimensional representations of thesubject of FIGS. 25, 26, 27 , with FIG. 28 showing an outer view whileFIG. 29 shows a partially broken away representation in which theimpeller blade 1 becomes visible within the support device 17.

FIGS. 28, 29 , unlike FIGS. 25, 26, 27 , do not show fork-like braces18, 19 as the connection between the support device 17 and the shaftjournals 22, 23, but rather a triangular plate 25. It has the advantagewith respect to two fork-like braces of being more stable, but thedisadvantage that the fluid has to be displaced through the plate 25 ona rotational movement at high rotational frequency.

It becomes visible from FIG. 29 that a single helical impeller blade 1is provided which has no neck.

FIG. 30 shows a support device in which the torque is transmitted fromthe tubular element 17 into the shaft. journal 22 by means of atriangular plate 25. FIG. 31 . shows the same constellation in a partlybroken away representation.

In contrast to this, FIG. 32 shows the connection of the shaft journal22 directly to a prolongation 26 of the impeller blade 1.

FIG. 33 shows the same constellation as FIG. 32 in a longitudinalsection. FIGS. 32 and 33 make clear that the torque is introduceddirectly into the impeller blade 1 there and that the support device 17only serves the stabilization of the impeller blade/impeller bladesradially in the outer region or the expansion of the impeller blade andthe subsequent shape stabilization. The prolongation of the helicalstructure 26 up to the shaft journal 22 moreover has the advantage thatthis also causes less resistance in the surrounding fluid on rotationsince it represents a prolongation of the helical structure of theimpeller blade.

It was made clear by the above-described examples that a highstabilization of the impeller blades is achieved with a small effortwith the means of the invention by the support of one or severalimpeller blades radially in their outer region. The connection ofimpeller blades to a neck is thereby either not particularly taken up orit becomes unnecessary in total, which can also result in the omissionof the neck. The support device can moreover co-expand the rotorblade/rotor blades on the expansion of the rotor so that they can bemanufactured from commercial, flexible materials without anyparticularly high mechanical demands.

1-15. (canceled)
 16. A fluid pump comprising: a pump housing, a rotorpositioned within the pump housing, the rotor having an axis ofrotation; at least one helical impeller blade rotatable about the axisof rotation; and a tubular support device connected to an outer marginof the at least one helical impeller blade, the tubular support deviceconfigured to pull the at least one helical impeller blade radiallyoutwardly to transition the at least one helical impeller blade from acompressed state to an expanded state.
 17. The fluid pump of claim 16,wherein the at least one helical impeller blade includes two impellerblades.
 18. The fluid pump of claim 17, wherein the two impeller bladesare configured to extend respectively radially from the axis of rotationto the tubular support device and axially extend helically.
 19. Thefluid pump of claim 17, wherein the two impeller blades are eachhelically fastened at their outer sides in the tubular support device.20. The fluid pump of claim 17, wherein the two impeller blades areconfigured to slide past each other radially with respect to the axis ofrotation on compression of the tubular support device.
 21. The fluidpump of claim 17, wherein inner ends of the two impeller blades areradially spaced apart from the axis of rotation.
 22. The fluid pump ofclaim 16, wherein the tubular support device includes a collapsible tubeor a collapsible pipe.
 23. The fluid pump of claim 16, wherein thetubular support device is expandable and stable in shape in pumpingoperation due to an overpressure as a result of the pumping operation.24. The fluid pump of claim 16, wherein the tubular support deviceincludes a tube element reinforced by a wire meshwork on an outer sideof the tube element.
 25. The fluid pump of claim 24, wherein the wiremeshwork is configured to be adhered to the tube element in a spot-wisemanner.
 26. The fluid pump of claim 24, wherein the tube elementincludes an inner flexible sleeve.
 27. The fluid pump of claim 24,wherein the wire meshwork is radially compressible while maintaining itslength.
 28. The fluid pump of claim 24, wherein the wire meshworkincludes a shape memory alloy as a metal wire or a grid structure. 29.The fluid pump of claim 16, wherein the tubular support device includesa flexible tube.
 30. The fluid pump of claim 16, wherein the tubularsupport device is configured to transition the at least one helicalimpeller blade between the compressed state in which the at least onehelical impeller blade is radially compressed and the expanded state inwhich the at least one helical impeller blade is radially expanded. 31.The fluid pump of claim 16, wherein the at least one helical impellerblade is configured to extend radially in a direction from about theaxis of rotation to an outer radial edge furthermost from the axis ofrotation.
 32. The fluid pump of claim 31, wherein the tubular supportdevice is configured to be coupled to the outer radial edge of the atleast one helical impeller blade.
 33. The fluid pump of claim 31,wherein the at least one helical impeller blade has a longitudinallength that extends within the pump housing.
 34. The fluid pump of claim33, wherein the outer radial edge is configured to extend axially alongthe longitudinal length of the at least one helical impeller blade. 35.The fluid pump of claim 16, wherein the at least one impeller blade isrotatable about the axis of rotation within the pump housing when inoperation, wherein the rotor is configured to convey a fluid duringoperation.